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Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Last December I made an insanely delicious twist on a traditional eggnog from Melissa Clark's "A Good Appetite" column. Clark intriguingly described her nog, "The smoky Scotch made the eggnog more complex and gave it a savory taste, which went nicely with the caramelized flavor of the brown sugar." She more than delivered on her promise: It was delicious, heavenly, smoky and rich, but light--you could eat it with a spoon it was so wonderfully thick. Give it a try this holiday season!

Note: When I halved the recipe it still made much, much more than we needed to serve five people. Since it is such a rich, concentrated dessert, you can definitely serve more than a dozen people with the recipe below.

1. In a large bowl, combine the yolks, brown sugar, vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Using an electric mixer beat on medium-high speed until thick and dark golden, about 3 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and slowly drizzle in the milk, Scotch and brandy. Transfer to the freezer to chill while preparing the rest of the eggnog. (Or refrigerate for at least 2 hours before completing.)
2. In a medium bowl, whip the cream on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Set aside. In another medium bowl, using clean beaters, whip the egg whites and pinch of salt on medium-high speed, adding the sugar by tablespoons until soft peaks form.
3. When ready to serve, pour the yolk mixture into a large punchbowl. Fold in a small amount of whipped cream to lighten it, then fold in the remaining cream. Fold in the egg whites. Generously dust the top with nutmeg; serve immediately.